Fiscal Responsibilities of PI's

Did you know that at NMIMT the Principal Investigator (PI) has overall responsibility for the technical and fiscal management of a sponsored project? While responsibility for the day-to-day management of project finances may be delegated to administrative or other staff, accountability for compliance with NMIMT policy and sponsor requirements ultimately rests with the PI.

The Sponsored Projects Office/Restricted Funds was established to keep you and NMIMT in compliance with various governing regulations. Keep in mind the following before authorizing the expenditure of funds to be charged directly to a sponsored agreement and/or deviating from costs proposed to funding agency:

The expenditure must be allowable by the funding source. Check with the financial administrator of your account for any restrictions.

The expenditure should be necessary and clearly related to the project.

Justification for the expenditure should be documented and attached to the source document, i.e., travel request, purchase orders, direct payments etc. Adequate explanation and documentation needs to be maintained until after the award has been formally closed out by the sponsoring agency.

The charge should be reasonable.

Make sure that the charge has been processed through the appropriate NMIMT system.

Make sure that the charge is coded to the correct account and object code.

The cost proposal represents financial expression of the project. Deviations from direct cost categories may require prior written approval from funding agency. Check with financial administrator of your award for specific award terms and conditions. Revisions to the scope of effort proposed always requires prior written approval from sponsor. Where appropriate budget revision request must be made in writing to financial administrator before Sponsored Projects will initiate the revision into BANNER.

Please keep in mind that the monthly expenditure statements, prepared and issued by the General Accounting Department, are the official record of project expenses and the basis for direct and indirect cost reimbursements to NMIMT. Therefore, effective with the March 1998 records, the following certification will be issued with the monthly statements for your signature.

"These salary and wage charges have been reviewed and, to the best of my knowledge, are reasonably accurate approximations of work performed on this account(s). Other direct costs charged to this account(s) have been reviewed and are, to the best of my knowledge, directly applicable to the account(s). Where required, differences have been noted for correction through the accounting system."

Adhering to these guidelines should prevent the possibility of an audit disallowance. Call either Anna McLain, Director of Sponsored Projects (x5382) or the front desk (x5800) in Restricted Funds if you wish to discuss the above items.